A. The Cisco Cloud Services Router (CSR) 1000V is a router in virtual form factor. It contains selected features of the Cisco IOS-XE® Operating System and can run on Cisco UCS® servers or servers from leading vendors that support the VMware ESXi 5.0 virtualization platform.
Q. Where is the CSR 1000V deployed?
A. The CSR 1000V is intended for deployment in cloud data centers. It serves as a single-tenant router in a multi-tenant cloud. It is deployed at the edge of a tenant's network segment (or virtual private cloud [VPC]).
Q. What type of customer is the CSR 1000V intended for?
A. An enterprise can purchase and deploy the CSR 1000V in its VPC in an external provider-hosted cloud. The CSR 1000V enables the enterprise to transparently extend its WAN to its VPC in the external cloud.
A cloud service provider also can purchase the CSR 1000V and offer it as a per-tenant networking service. The CSR 1000V enables the service provider to offer end-to-end managed connectivity to its customers (tenants).
Q. What networking problems are addressed by the CSR 1000V?
A. The multi-tenant, shared-infrastructure, shared-resource public cloud environment poses networking and security problems to enterprises:
• The enterprise does not own its cloud connectivity, so cannot extend its network configuration into the cloud. As a result, it has to support different IP addresses and management tools in its premises and in the cloud.
• The enterprise does not enjoy the same levels of privacy and security for its cloud deployment as it does in its premises. So it has to handle inconsistent VPN and security policies and limited connection reliability.
• The enterprise cannot directly connect its distributed sites to its cloud applications, having to instead redirect all network traffic through its data center, and it is unable to prioritize and optimize its traffic. This causes a poor user experience for its cloud-deployed IT applications.
The cloud also presents networking challenges to cloud providers:
• The current cloud network switching (VLAN) architecture is limited in scale.
• The cloud provider lacks all the components of an end-to-end managed connectivity service offering for its customers, including QoS, application visibility and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Q. What are the typical uses of the CSR 1000V?
A. The typical cloud uses of the CSR 1000V are:
• Secure VPN Gateway: The CSR 1000V offers route-based IPSec VPNs (DMVPN, EasyVPN, and FlexVPN), along with the Cisco IOS® Zone-based Firewall and access control, enabling an enterprise to securely connect distributed sites directly to its cloud deployment.
• MPLS Endpoint: The CSR 1000V can serve as an MPLS Customer Edge (CE) or Provider Edge (PE) router that enables a service provider to offer a customer end-to-end managed connectivity with performance guarantees. Also, by extending the MPLS WAN deeper into the cloud network, the service provider can increase network scale - more tenants and more networks per tenant.
• Network Extension: The CSR 1000V offers features such as NAT and LISP that enable an enterprise to maintain addressing consistency across premise and cloud as it moves applications back and forth or bursts compute capacity into the cloud. The CSR 1000V's OTV and VPLS features enable an enterprise to extend VLAN segments from its data center into the cloud for server backup, disaster recovery and compute scale.
• Network Control Point: The CSR 1000V can redirect traffic to Cisco virtual WAAS appliances deployed in the cloud. It also offers integrated networking services such as the Cisco IOS® Zone-based Firewall, HSRP, QoS, and Application Visibility & Control (AVC) and Application Performance Monitoring. These features enable a cloud tenant to receive a comprehensive networking experience.
Q. What makes the CSR 1000V unique?
A. Built on the same proven Cisco IOS® Software platform that is inside the Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR) and Aggregation Services Router (ASR) product families, the CSR 1000V offers a rich set of features, including routing, VPN, firewall, NAT, QoS, application visibility, failover, and WAN optimization. These functions empower enterprises and cloud providers to build highly secure, optimized, scalable and consistent hybrid networks. The CSR 1000V also offers the same IOS® CLI and supports the same IOS® management tools as the ISRs and ASRs, allowing for unified network management. The CSR 1000V is the only virtualized router that combines the networking quality demanded by enterprises with the flexibility benefits offered by virtualization.
Q. What virtualization platforms can the CSR 1000V run on?
A. The CSR 1000V supports the following virtualization platforms:
• VMware ESXi 5.1
• Citrix XenServer 6.1
• Red Hat KVM (Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.1, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3)
The CSR 1000V will run as an Amazon Machine Instance (AMI) in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace. Currently in beta, the CSR 1000V AMI is expected to be commercially available in AWS Marketplace in November 2013.
Q. Which servers can the CSR 1000V run on?
A. The CSR 1000V can run on Cisco UCS® servers or servers from leading vendors that support VMware ESXi or Citrix XenServer or Red Hat KVM.
The server must support at least the following:
• Intel Nehalem or AMD Barcelona CPU with clock frequency 2.0 GHz
• Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
Q. What minimum resources does the CSR 1000V need from the underlying server?
A. The CSR 1000V requires the following from the virtualized server hardware:
• CPU: 1 to 4 virtual CPUs (depending on the throughput and feature set)
• Memory: 2.5 to 4 GB (depending on the throughput and feature set)
• Disk Space: 8 GB
• Ethernet Network Interfaces: Three or more virtual Network Interface Cards (vNICs), up to the maximum allowed by the hypervisor
Q. What Cisco IOS Software version runs in the CSR 1000V?
A. The CSR 1000V runs Cisco IOS-XE® Software Release 3.10, offering selected Cisco IOS-XE® Software features.
Q. What Cisco IOS Software features do the CSR 1000V support?
A. The CSR 1000V supports the following Cisco IOS-XE® features:
The software image comes with a free 60-day evaluation license, and can be deployed on a virtualized server using the hypervisor management tool (VMware vCenter, Citrix XenCenter, etc.). You can convert the CSR 1000V virtual machine (VM) into a template, from which you can create and customize other VMs, or you can clone multiple instances of the VM.
Q. Does the CSR support VM-level High Availability?
A. The CSR 1000V supports VMware High Availability features including vMotion and DRS.
Q. How can I purchase the CSR 1000V?
A. You can purchase the CSR 1000V directly from Cisco or from a partner. The CSR 1000V is licensed based on a combination of throughput and feature set, and you can purchase it for a term of 1 or 3 years, or perpetual.
The IOS-XE® Software Release 3.10 of the CSR 1000V offers six throughput options - 10 Mbps, 50 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 250 Mbps, 500 Mbps and 1 Gbps. Upon activation of a particular option, the CSR 1000V limits its aggregate bi-directional throughput to that option.
The CSR 1000V comes in three technology packages or feature sets, shown below:
• Standard: Includes routing (BGP, EIGRP, OSPF, IPv6, ..), addressing (DHCP, NAT, VLAN), basic security (ACL, AAA), high availability: (HSRP, ..), and management (SSH, SNMP, NetFlow, ..) features
• Advanced: Includes Standard and advanced security (Zone-based Firewall, IPSec, Route-based VPNs - DMVPN, FlexVPN, ..) features
• Premium: Includes Advanced, MPLS (MPLS VPN, VRF), Application Experience (AppNav, AVC, IP SLA, ..) and hybrid cloud connectivity (LISP, OTV, ..) features
After you purchase a license, you will receive a Product Activation Key (PAK). You must provide the PAK to a Cisco License Server along with a unique device identifier (which is generated when the CSR 1000V VM boots up) in order for the server to generate a license file for the CSR 1000V. You then must install and activate the license file in the CSR 1000V.
Q. What is the performance of the CSR 1000V?
A. The CSR 1000V is intended for single-tenant (VPC) networking use in a multi-tenant cloud, where the bandwidth expectations range from 10 Mbps to 1 Gbps.
The IOS-XE® Release 3.10 of the CSR 1000V supports up to 1 Gbps of throughput. The performance of the CSR 1000V is rate-limited based on the CSR 1000V license you purchase. Upon activation of the license, the CSR 1000V limits its aggregate bi-directional throughput to the throughput specified by the license. Future releases of the CSR 1000V will offer higher throughput licenses.
Q. What are the resource requirements per CSR 1000V license?
A. The IOS-XE® Software Release 3.9 of the CSR 1000V offered the following licenses:
• 10 Mbps - Standard, Advanced, and Premium packages - for 1, 3 and 5-year terms
• 25 Mbps - Standard, Advanced, and Premium packages - for 1, 3 and 5-year terms
• 50 Mbps - Standard, Advanced, and Premium packages - for 1, 3 and 5-year terms
• 100 Mbps - Standard only - for 1, 3 and 5-year terms
• 250 Mbps - Standard only - for 1, 3 and 5-year terms
In the IOS-XE® Software Release 3.10 of the CSR 1000V, you will see the following changes:
• 25 Mbps is not offered
• 5-year term is not offered. Instead, perpetual is offered
• 100 Mbps - Advanced and Premium packages
• 250 Mbps - Advanced and Premium packages
• 500 Mbps - Standard package
• 1 Gbps - Standard package
The following table specifies the server resource requirements per license:
Throughput
Technology Package
Standard
Advanced
Premium
10 Mbps
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
50 Mbps
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
100 Mbps
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
1 vCPU, 2.5 GB RAM
250 Mbps
4 vCPU*, 4 GB RAM*
4 vCPU*, 4 GB RAM*
4 vCPU*, 4 GB RAM*
500 Mbps
4 vCPU*, 4 GB RAM*
1 Gbps
4 vCPU*, 4 GB RAM*
* Subject to change in future releases
Q. How can I manage the CSR 1000V?
A. When the CSR 1000V is operational, you can provision its networking and security features using SSH or Telnet to access the Cisco IOS® CLI. The CSR 1000V is also manageable by the Cisco Prime Infrastructure, the Cisco network management tool that manages Cisco IOS® devices including ISRs and ASRs. Starting with IOS-XE® Software Release 3.10, the CSR 1000V will offer RESTful APIs for selected IOS-XE® features, which will enable service providers to automate CSR deployment and management with common orchestration tools or self-service portals. For monitoring and troubleshooting, the CSR 1000V supports SNMP, Syslog and IP SLAs.
Q. Can I deploy the CSR 1000V in the Amazon (AWS) or Microsoft (Azure) clouds?
A. For a CSR 1000V to be deployed in the Amazon cloud, the CSR 1000V needs to be converted into an Amazon Machine Instance (AMI). The AMI version of the CSR 1000V is currently in beta and will be available on the AWS Marketplace catalog in November 2013.
The CSR 1000V does not support Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization, a requirement for Microsoft Azure deployment. Support for Hyper-V will be offered in a future release of the CSR 1000V.
Q. Is the CSR 1000V related to the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches?
A. The CSR 1000V is not related to the Cisco Nexus® 1000V virtual switches. The CSR 1000V can run on a VMware ESXi hypervisor that contains the Cisco Nexus® 1000V or a standard virtual switch, such as a VMware vSwitch.
Q. Is the CSR 1000V similar to the Cisco ASR 1000 or Cisco ISR products?
A. The CSR 1000V is a Cisco IOS® networking product like the Cisco ASR 1000 and ISR. Each product serves a specific purpose.
• The Cisco ASR 1000 is deployed primarily in data centers and campuses, the Cisco ISR is intended primarily for branch offices, and the CSR 1000V goes into VPCs. The three products are complementary to each other.
• The feature set of the CSR 1000V supports VPC networking needs. The CSR 1000V offers only selected IOS-XE® features based on the cloud uses of the product.
• The virtual form factor of the CSR 1000V makes it ideal for VPC deployments where flexibility and agility are highly desired. The ASR 1000 and ISR are ideally suited for data centers and branch offices where hardware-based performance and reliability are required to support demanding data, voice, and video networking services. While the ISRs and ASRs are purpose-built networking devices with highly optimized performance, the CSR 1000V runs on general purpose server hardware and shares resources with other applications running on the same hardware.
Q. When will the CSR 1000V be available?
A. The CSR 1000V is generally available starting the IOS-XE® 3.9 Release.
